Flower Bomb!

We've done the Musee d'Orsay several times and thoroughly enjoyed their displays of Impressionist artwork and we did the Musée de L'Orangerie when we first arrived in Paris on this trip.  I had never been to this small museum located in the Garden des Tuilleries.  It did not disappoint!  This museum was built to house only the 8 panels that make up Water Lilies by Claude Monet.  He worked for over 12 years leading up to his death, taking inspiration from his "water garden" at his home in Giverny.  At this point in his life, Monet was going blind due to cataracts and these huge paintings focus on capturing the changing light in his garden...no sharp edges, just subtle blurring of colors.  The 8 paintings show the passing of time from sunrise to sunset.  The building they are housed in is nothing special on the outside, but the beautiful soft diffused  light that shines into the 2 oval shaped rooms was magical.

After seeing this lovely display, we wanted to see the original inspiration for these fantastic paintings.  So....we made our way to the train station yesterday morning and took the 50 minute train ride to the town of Vernon.  Then we boarded a bus for the short ride to the little village of Giverney and walked to Monet's home.  This is the point where I could bore you with 10,000 photos of flowers, but I'll try to control myself!  We visited the Water Garden first, then the Walled Garden, and finally Monet's home where he lived with his wife and 8 children.  It was all so lovely...I can't imagine a more peaceful and tranquil place to live and be inspired!

I fell in love with Monet's cheery yellow dining room...and the blue kitchen with the amazing copper pots!  It was pure heaven! (And the yellow and blue reminded me of our old home on Tiburon Ct.!)

We had some time before our bus/train back to Paris, so we found a lovely spot for a bit of lunch...I had delicious quiche and Gare had a salad with pieces of Brie and green apple slices that he kept ohh and awing over.   We sat outside to eat in a little courtyard garden, with chickens wandering around - it was perfect!

We were back in our apartment in Paris in time to watch the school kids get picked up in the afternoon.  Our living room windows faces out onto an elementary school and a park.  I love watching the children get dropped off and picked up.  They all walk to and from school, with parents or grandparents.  I love seeing the parents line up in the afternoon waiting for dismissal.  The principal/teacher stands at the door and seems to call one child at a time from inside...she looks for their parent, hugs the child and then the child is released at which point they run to their parent and give them a big hug (lots of hugging going on...must be gearing up for double cheek kissing later on!).  I watched one day as the parents all were gathering for pick up time.  It reminded me of picking my kids up at Buena Vista...where we moms all waited in our cars, windows rolled down, talking with each other until our kids came running out.  These French parents all gather in little groups chatting, some pushing baby strollers with younger sibs, some with dogs on leashes!  It's just the same as we did...just the French version!  Once they have their children, most of them move across the little street to the park where the kids play.  I love opening the windows so I can hear them...it make me feel like a part of the neighborhood!